Ingredients of the Church (Holiness and Growth)

1 Peter 2:1-3

a. Holiness (2:1)

b. Growth (2:2-3)

1. INTRODUCTION

a. Peter gives us the last 2 ingredients of the Church. If we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we must huave these ingredients. The last 2 ingredients as I have mentioned over the last 4 messages are Holiness and Growth.

b. The ingredients in the church are there to remind us what types of attributes (특성) we are to have as Christians.

2. BODY

a. Holiness (2:1)

i. The context goes back to 1:15. Peter reminds his listeners that we are not to conform ourselves to the former lusts in which we lived in ignorance, but rather, to be holy in all our behavior (1:15). Then in verse 16, Peter tells us why we are to be holy. Peter says be holy for I am holy. Peter is quoting Leviticus 19:2.

ii. This then leads to Peter telling his listeners that Christ died for them, and by His precious blood, they were redeemed (1:18-19) and through Christ, are believers in God (1:21) who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, glory so that we would have faith and hope in God (1:21).

iii. Paul then goes in 1:22 because of what Christ did, this causes us to have a sincere love for the brethren because of the truth that we have been born again by the living and enduring word of God. Ultimately, that this was the word, that was preached to them and is now preached to us. This leads us to our passage today.

iv. But I want to go back to this idea of holiness. This is where I would like to park it. God calls us to be holy for I am holy which is why we should put aside all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Basically stating that we are not to be like the world, the way we used to live in ignorance but now, now that you’ve been called, be holy as the one who has called us.

v. This is an interesting command that God called the people of Israel to do and what God calls us to do. God calls Israel to be holy and He calls us to be holy. So that causes us to ask a question, what does it mean to be holy?

vi. Many things can be said when we define holiness. I think the best definition for holiness could be to be set apart, to be different. I think this is the most common definition of holiness, but I want to give it a different perspective. The way I’m looking at holiness is to be touched of God. If you read Leviticus 19, there is a common statement that God says. The phrase that is most common here in Leviticus 19 is “I am the Lord.” God says this 15 times here in this chapter alone. But what else is astounding is that He says the phrase “I am the Lord your God” 7 times.

vii. What we see from this is, the fact that He is the Lord and He is our God, because we are apart of Him now, because He has touched us, He has taken possession of us, we are called to be holy. We are called to be like Him, to be set apart.

viii. When we think of holiness, we think of moral attitudes or behavior. We think, we need to be holy. We need to live a certain way. This is true to a certain degree. This is why in 1 Peter 2:1, Peter tells us that we are to put away all of these things. If we put away all of these things, it can give us a picture of what holiness looks like. But I believe holiness is not just the putting off of these things. It’s the putting on of the opposite of what we are putting on. We see what this looks like in Ephesians 4:22-24. Holiness is not simply to put off things, but a putting on of things. When we do both parts of the equation, this is what it means to be holy.

ix. But holiness is not simply to do these things. It is to be touched of God. It is to be so connected to God, that we are apart of Him. In the New Testament, Jesus tells us that when He leaves, He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit in John 15:26. This is important because it helps us to understand that holiness is not just moral action, but to have the Spirit so alive in us, that it causes us to do these actions.

x. Holiness is this idea of being alive in God, that our actions change because of Him. Leviticus 19 shows us this example. God says, in verse 3, that everyone should reverence his mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. When we use this verse as an example, God says, you will do these things. Why? Because I am the Lord your God. Because you are my possession, because I am with you, because I have chosen you, because you are my children, this is what you will do. This touching of God, this salvation that we have received in Jesus Christ, changes our heart, and causes us put off and put on these behaviors, that by result, causes us to be different.

xi. Holiness, therefore, isn’t simply just being different. It gives us the whole essence of what is different. It is the whole being. It is not just moral behavior. It is what causes moral behavior to change. And by submitting in obedience to God, we become different because our hearts are different.

xii. Again, we are changed inwardly which causes us to desire to want to live for God. This desire to live for God comes out in our behavior because ultimately, we want to glorify God. We want to live a life that pleases God. We don’t want to live for ourselves anymore, but rather, we want to live for God. We want to please God. This is holiness. Holiness ultimately points back to God and desires to be like Him.

b. Growth (2:2-3)

i. This desire to be like Him, this desire to be holy, Christians are to embody love for each other. This is what Peter was writing here in Chapter 1:22. The embodiment of holiness is that of love. Therefore, love each other by putting off these things. This is the reason Peter says in verse 2, put aside all these things and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word. This goes back to what Peter wrote about the word in 1:23 where Peter writes that we were born again not by the seed of that which is perishable but imperishable which is the living and enduring word of God.

ii. This same imperishable word, the word that endures forever, the word that was preached to you, this is the word you are to long for. Peter writes here long for, to desire intensely, to want it with all your heart, desire the pure milk of the word. This is an interesting phrase. It is better translated, “crave pure spiritual milk.” Believers are to long for the “pure spiritual milk” so that they will grow, resulting in their salvation. This longing for milk is compared to the craving for milk of “newborn babies.”

iii. This goes back to 1:23 where Peter writes that we were born again. As we are born again, we are to grow as babies grow by drinking milk, we as newborn Christians are to grow spiritually through the unadulterated milk.

iv. One thing to consider is that Peter is not addressing new believers in Christ. What he is emphasizing here is that we should crave, we should desire spiritual milk like babies desire milk. He is not saying only new believers should desire this, but all believers in Christ. We might think that this phrase is the emphasis but rather, it is the phrase that follows. Peter’s purpose in writing this verse is to tell us that we should desire to grow. Peter tells us the purpose of spiritual milk. It is for the purpose of growth in respect to salvation.

v. But then Peter gives us a hint of what causes this growth. Peter writes, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. The translation here isn’t as good as the NIV which translate it as, “Now that you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” I believe this is what Peter was trying to tell his listeners. Peter emphasizes here the motivation for desiring the pure spiritual milk.

vi. This is the fruit of true conversion. One of the things I’ve been studying and meditating is on the reality that all true believers must bear fruit. Jesus taught this by telling us that there must be evidence of our belief. We heard this in Jesus telling us about the Parable of the soils in Mark 4:1-9. There were a couple types of soils and some seed fell on them. Due to different circumstances, the soil didn’t bear fruit. But the seeds that fell on good soil, the soil that was ready to receive, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty and hundredfold.

vii. What Jesus emphasizes in this parable and others, is that, as believers, we must bear fruit. This is no different than what Peter is stating here. Peter is telling us, if you have tasted the kindness of God, if you have experienced His goodness in your life, you must bear fruit. Now that you have tasted the kindness of the Lord, desire to grow. Desire to bear fruit in your life. Desire to live holy, desire to grow in your walk with God. This is the fruit of true salvation. Salvation is the desire to grow in knowing God and living a life that reflects His kindness. Our motivation is not found in living a moral life.

viii. Salvation is not an upgraded life. Christians who are born again are not upgraded, like you upgrade your seat on a plane. No, it is an entirely different life. Those who were dead in Christ, are now alive. Those who hated God, now love God. Those who wanted nothing to do with God, now want to live to please God. This all comes from the kindness and goodness of God.

3. CONCLUSION